H1B cap of 65,000 visas has been reached, says USCIS

April 11, 2017: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a statement on April 7 that the Congressional mandated H1B visa cap of 65,000 has been reached for fiscal year 2018, four days after the start of “H1B season”.

USCIS also stated that it has received in excess of the limit of 20,000 H1B Visa applications for the US advanced degree exemption or the master’s cap.

A cap of 65,000 is in place for the "general" H1B visa category for those who hold at least a bachelor’s degree. An additional 20,000 places are offered for overseas workers who hold a master's or PhD from a US institution.

The agency is now set to conduct a computer-generated lottery to pick applications for approval.

Last month, USCIS temporarily suspended premium processing of H1B visas in a bid to shift resources to traditional processing.

As of now, USCIS will carry on accepting applications for renewal of H1B status. It will also accept applications for employees who are shifting H1B visa jobs.

It may be noted that the Trump administration has announced that it would target employment-based immigration programs like the H-1B to combat fraud and protect U.S. workers.

H-1B visa, which allows American IT companies to employ foreign workers, is a non-immigrant visa popular among Indian techies.